The present invention relates to an apparatus for scaling of teeth, and for lavage of the gingival sulcus and other parts of the mouth requiring lavage. The apparatus is capable of providing scaling alone, lavage alone, or for providing both simultaneously .
It is known in the art that plaque and calculus harbor toxic and irritating components implicated in oral disease and that plaque and calculus can be removed from teeth by high frequency scaling. Many instruments are known in the art for that purpose. Prior art scaling instruments have been designed with scaling tips that are caused to vibrate at frequencies between about 6 and 50 KHZ using mechanical, magnetostrictive or piezoelectric energy. Scaling tips for the prior art devices are relatively large since they are used mainly to remove plaque and calculus from the exposed, relatively large, flat surfaces of teeth. With a few exceptions, prior art scaling tips are too large for scaling below the gum line in periodontal pockets, unless the pockets are surgically exposed.
Because heat is generated by the vibration of the stacks and scaling tips, most prior art scaling devices have a conduit that transports tap water to the handpiece and onto the scaling tip for cooling thereof. In magnetostrictive devices, for example, the tap water is first used to circulate around the transducer stack to cool the stack, and is then dispensed onto the scaling tip to cool the tip. In piezoelectric devices the cooling water is directed to the scaling tip only. The cooling water is thereafter dispensed into the patient's mouth during the scaling procedure to cleanse the operating field of debris.
It is also known in the art to provide instruments to oxygenate or irrigate periodontal pockets with oxygenated or oxygen producing chemicals. This is done because it has been found that anaerobic bacteria live in periodontal pockets, (it has been inferred that a causal relationship between the presence of anaerobic bacteria and periodontal disease exists) and anaerobic bacteria cannot live in the presence of oxygen. Similarly other antibacterial solutions may be prepared to facilitate removal of calculus, plaque and plaque components by irrigation. Such procedures are commonly known in the art as lavage.
It has been found that a conscientious program of keeping teeth clean of adhering calculus and plaque, and irrigating periodontal pockets with one or more suitable lavage irrigants may stop or even reverse the progression of periodontal disease.
In the past, however, to provide both procedures, two different apparatus were required. The practitioner, to provide adequate treatment, was faced with the expense and clutter of two independent sets of equipment, and the need to use both sets of equipment when using both procedures was time consuming and cumbersome.
It is the object of the present invention to overcome the problems with the prior art procedures and apparatus.